Out Of The Mouths of Babes

Violet and David walking to the park.

"Violet, I sure am glad you were born."

"I'm glad you were born too, Dad.  In fact, I think I will call Matati and thank her for having you, so that then, you could have me."  June/2013


Me to the Grandchildren while on a vacation with them

"Hey guys, I just wanted to thank you both for being so cooperative and helpful during this vacation"

Violet:
"Yeah, we do make a pretty good team." 

Lost Pines Resort Vacation

This was an email I sent to David and Amy after our trip with our grandchildren, Archer and Violet.

William and I were talking about the kids and what a good time we had with them.  The pics are ok, but the experiences we shared were priceless.  Archer was the most fun I have ever had with him.  We just clicked.  One night, it was kinda late and we were all pretty tired lying in bed and Violet started singing this little tune she made up about "why is he a bad boy..."  or something like that.  Well, it was endless and finally I told her she would have to stop singing so we could all go to sleep.  .......all was quiet and then, off she went several more times and Archer and I got the giggles real bad.  Couldn't stop .....so fun.  He slept with me and Violet with Granpaw.  Sometimes she likes to treat him like a little baby.  That night, scratching his back and saying very softly..."go to sleep now, go to sleep....."  crazy, but sweet.

As we all know, both children are quite sure of themselves and have that glow about them.  Archers' way of showing it is to make up his mind and do his own thing and sometimes you just have to let him, within reason.  It seems to work well with him.  If you look closely at the pic of Granpaw and Violet with the Alpacas you might see Archer up on the stairwell of the hotel looking down.  He was very sure he didn't want anything to do with some crazy looking Alpacas or the Hummingbird Garden.  So he and Granpaw went bike riding all over the property and down by the golf course there.

Violet as usual made friends everywhere she went, in the pool, in the restaurant, at the movies, even the elevators.  When she left her yellow chickie in the restaurant, she was so worried about her.  We raced back down to the restaurant and she went up to our waitress and asked if she had seen her and that she just knew Chickie was very upset.  The waitress. with a wink to me,  said that she saw something yellow over by the cash register, Violet and Archer ran over there and the reunion was so sweet.  Violet asking Chickie if she was okay.....etc.   all of the folks there loved it.  and of course Pete went to every meal with us.  At one point I was telling the kids how proud I was of them for being so cooperative and Violet piped up and said, "yeah, we do make a pretty good team."

It was like that our whole stay, so fun playing with them in the pool too.  We had chairs in the water and Violet would pull us along. Archer wasn't too interested in the water slide and it was really high, I wouldn't do it either.  He spent a lot of time playing volleyball with people in the pool and riding down the "Crooked River" either in a tube or just floating along, with some other boys his age.  He could stand the whole way so a person could just ride all over the place.  Very beautiful.

So I think we have finally figured out our annual trip with the kids, Lost Pines.  We also felt time wise, it was just enough for everyone, plus not too far from home.

A great trip with our wonderful grandchildren, thank you both for letting us have them with us.

Love,

Matati (although after watching Lion King 1 1/2, they were calling me Matata.)

Remember your sisters

I met with my younger sister, a couple of days ago, and after we had spent the day together,we came up with some really good ideas for our book we had decided to write.  It was an exciting time for me since I could definitely see my characters and how they might act.   

I can fall back on my history with my sisters as young children and then as grown women. Some of them moved away, some came back to our home town.  This made for some interesting relationships with each one.  I was closer to some, not so close with others.

This kind of back and forth, ebb and flow, with them  as we grew up was very interesting.  The "book" begins with two characters, sisters, and after writing a couple of pages as an introduction, I recalled something I had read last year that brought it all together for me.  And hopefully will make me a better writer.

A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her mother. As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter..

'Don't forget your sisters,' she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need sisters. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them..'

'Remember that 'sisters' means ALL the women... your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women always do.'

What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman thought. Haven't I just gotten married? Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my husband and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!'

But she listened to her mother. She kept contact with her sisters and made more women friends each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her mother really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, sisters are the mainstays of her life...